The 40-inch-tall Helyx wind turbines built by Portland-based Oregon Wind Corp. can generate electricity for about $1.50 per watt, according to the company's co-founder, Toby Kinkaid. "That's pretty close to what the big boys can achieve," he says. Kincaid plans to sell the machines for $60 each by the end of 2007.

One Helyx operating at full capacity can only illuminate one light bulb, but a shelving unit dubbed the WindWall can pool the energy generated from up to 36 turbines, according to Kinkaid. Oregon Wind Corp. says it needs $500,000 in equipment to enable mass production of the fiberglass blades.

Yet some experts aren't so sure vertical axis turbines are quite up to speed. "There's a lot of research and development on vertical axis, but none of the ideas have proven themselves out," says Heather Rhoads- Weaver, founder of eFormative Options, a sustainable energy consulting firm based in Vashon, Wash. "It's great that people are trying to come up with new solutions. But the advances are not always as great as one would hope."

Rhoads-Weaver points to the lack of a uniform rating system for small wind turbines as part of the problem. eFormative Options is helping launch Small Wind Certification Corp., which would test and certify turbines up to 65 kilowatts.